Northland dad arrested for locking child in dirty home has criminal past of neglect, domestic abuse

Ryan Kath

2:47 PM, Sep 21, 2012

10:28 AM, Sep 22, 2012

James Simpson booking photo, from 2002

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

James C. Simpson

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A Claycomo man is in custody after his 3-year-old daughter was found alone in a home littered with needles and pornography.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CLAYCOMO, Mo. - A 41 Action News investigation has uncovered documents showing the criminal past of the man at the center of a child endangerment case in the Northland.

On Thursday, authorities arrested James C. Simpson for leaving his three-year-old daughter padlocked alone inside a home for several hours. Claycomo police broke the lock and said they found pornography and needles inside.

41 Action News discovered 33-year-old Simpson was convicted of child neglect a decade ago in Oklahoma. He also has an outstanding warrant for a domestic abuse charge.

In February, 2002, Simpson was arrested for driving under the influence with his two children in the car at 3:30 a.m. in Ardmore, Okla.

A police officer noticed him driving left of the center line and pulled him over. The officer said the man had slurred speech and had a very strong smell of alcohol. A breathalyzer test registered the then 22-year-old's blood-alcohol level at .13.

The officer arrested him for DUI and child endangerment and the other adult female passenger for public intoxication. The report said a 3-year-old and 3-month-old were asleep in the backseat of the car.

In August, 2002, Simpson pleaded guilty to felony child neglect. He spent a weekend in the Carter County Jail, paid a fine, and received a three-year probation.

Two years later, he faced charges for domestic abuse.

An Ardmore police report described a "scuffle" with his ex-girlfriend and mother of his two-year-old child. The woman was suspicious of some cars that had been circling in front of the house and questioned him about whether they were drug dealers.

The woman reported that Simpson became upset and threw a box of crackers at her face before hitting her on the head and knocking her to the ground. She then told police he squeezed her left arm, leaving a bruise.

Officers reported seeing evidence that made them suspicious of drug use, but said Simpson would not agree to a search of the home.

On March 4, 2004, he was charged with domestic abuse.

Carter County still has an outstanding warrant for the domestic abuse case because Simpson never appeared for court. There is another outstanding warrant for failing to pay the costs of his child neglect conviction.

Records show Simpson was also arrested by Kansas City police in August and charged with stealing. He bonded out for $1,000.

Bart Cooper, owner of Freedom Bonding, LLC, said a bondsman was trying to track down Simpson on Thursday because he had used a counterfeit check to pay his bail fee. The bondsman discovered the 3-year-old alone and called police.